The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1887-09-30

I
that. -'''o "iuis'e'i ''i
But, says some one. Il am man Of small
means and can't afford to nav the premi-
UNI mat Is sometimes lawful and gem
Inc excuse, and there Is no answer 10 it; but
IN nine cases out Of ten when mar says that
he smokes up in cigars, and drinks down in
wine, and exPends in Injuries enough money
TO have paid the premium on a life insurance
| policy which would have kept his family from
oeggary when he is dead. A man ought to
put himself down on the strictest economy
1ntll ne can meet this Christian necessity.
| You have no right to the luxriries Of life un-
al you have made such provision Admire
what was said by Rev. DR. Guthrie the great
Scottish preacher. A few years before his
death he stood in a public neetint. and de
elared: When | came to EdinburI.h the peo-
pie sometimes laughed at my black stockings
/ and at my cotton umbrella, and they said |
looked like common plowman. and they de
rlded me because l lived in a'house for which
l paid - year rent, and ofientimes |
walked when would have been vsry glad to
have cab; but, gentlemen, | did al that be
cause l wanted TO pay the premium on a life
insurance that would keep nv family com
Portable if should die That take to be
the right expression Of an honest intelli-
| gent, Christian man
The utter Indifference Of many people on
this important subject accounts FOR much Of
the crime and the pauperism Of the day.
Who are these children sweeping the cross
ings with broken broom and begging of you
penny as you 90 byi Who are these lost
souls gliding under the gaslight, in thin
shawlss An, they are the victims of want;
in many of the cases the forecast of parents
and grandparents might have prohibited il
God only knows how they struggled to do
right. They prayed until the tears froze on
their checks, they sened on the sack until thl-
breaking of tils-day; but they could not get
enough money to pay the rent; they
could not get enough money to de
In that wretched home the angel Of
purity and the angel Of crime fought
great fight between the empty bread tray
and the ireless HEARTH and tie blackwinged
angel shrieked: 'Ahai have won the day.n
Says some man; . 1 believe what YOU say:
It Is right and Christian, and mean some
time TO attend to this NATTER NV friend,
you are going to lose the comfort Of your
household IN the same way the sinner loses
heaven, by procrastination. | see all
around me the destitute and suffering families
OF parents who meant some day to attend
to this Christian duty. During the process
Of adjournment the man gets his feet wet
then comes chill and delirium and the
do.eful shake Of the doctors head, and the OBJ
sequies. If there be anything more pitiable
than woman delicately brought up. and on
her marriage day by an indulgent father
given 70 man 10 whom she is the chief ioy
ana pride of life until the moment OF his death
and then that same woman going out with
helpless children at her hack to struggle for
bread IN world where brawny muscle and
rugged soul are neceSsary-I say, if there be
anything more pitiable than that, | do not
know what it IS And yet there are good
women who are Indifferent in regard to their
husbands duty in this respect: and there are
those positively hostile, as though a life
insurance subjected q man to some
fatality. There Is in Brooklyn to-day a
very poor woman keeping a candy shop.
who vehemently opposed the insurance
of her husbands life, and when application
had been made for policy of $1,000 she
frustrated it. She would never have doc
ument IN the house that implied it was pos
sible for her husband ever 10 die One day, in
quick revolution of machinery, his life was
instantly dashed out. What il the seduell
She Is, with annoying tug, making the half
of miserable living. Her two children have
been taken away from her in order that they
may he clothed and schooled, and her life Is
10 be prolonged hardship. o man, before
forty-eight hours have passed away, appear
at the desk OF some of our great life in
stirance companies, have the stethoscope Of
the physician put to your heart and lungs,
and by the seal OF some honest company de !
cree that your children shall not be subjected
TO the humiliation of financial struggle in the !
day of your demise
but L must ask the men engaged in life in |
surance business whether they feel the i'm |
portance of their trust, and charge them |
must that they need divine grace to help /
them in their work In this day, when there |
are so many rivalries in your line Of bust |
ness, you viii BE- tempted to overstate the /
amount of ass t. aud the extent of the 1
surplus and you will be tempted to |
abuse the franchise OF the company; ,
aiifng' some Of the receiyts of another year;
and you viii be tempted 70 send out mean. !
anonymous circulars dsrogatory to other |
companies fOrge.ful Of :he fact that anony- |
nous communication means only two things |
the cowardice OF the author and the inetii- /
cheney Of the police in allowing such thing /
to be datei anywhere s1ve inside OF a peni- |
Tertiary Under the mighty pressure many |
have gone down, and You viii follow them If
you have too much confidence in yourself, |
and do not appeal to the Lord for positive |
help But if any OF you belong to that mis-
creant class of people who, with out any fnan-
cial ability, organize themselves into what
they call a life insurance co nplny. with
pretended capital of S300,O0j or S30O,0O0,
then vote yourself into the lucrative position,
and then take all the premiums for
yourself and then, at ths approach
Of the State Superintendent, drop all into the
hands OF those life Insurance. undertakers
whose business it is to gather up the remains
OF defunct organizations and bury them in
y
get out Of the business and disgorge the
widows houses you have swallowed But my
word IS tn all those who are legitimafely en-
gagged in the business You ought to be bet
ter than other men, not only because Of the
responsibilities that rest upon you, but be-
cause the truth Is ever confronting you that
your stay on earth is uncertain and your life
a matter Of few days or years Do not those
black edged letters that come into your office
make you Think Does not the doctors GER
tificate on the death claim give you THRILL
Your periodicals., your advertisements,
and even the litho sraphy of your policies
warn you that you are mortal According
10 your own showing the chances that you
will die this year are at least > per cent Are
you prepared for the tremendous exigencyi
The most CONDEMNED man in the judgment
day will be the unprepared life insurance
man, for the simple reason that his whole
business was connected with human exit, and
he cannot say: Il did not think His whole
business was to think on that one
thing. o, my brother, get insured for eter-
nifty. In consideration of what Christ has
done in your behalf, have the indenture this
day made out, signed and sealed with th- red
seal OF the cross.
But have words of encouragement and
comfort for those OF my hearers who are en-
gagged in the fire Insurance. business. You
are ordained by God to stand between US and
the most raging element of nature. We are
indebted TO you for what the national board
Of underwriters and the convention Of chiefs
Of the fire department have effected through
your suggestions and through your encour-
agement- We are indebted 20 you for what
yol have effected in the construction of
buildings, and in the change in the habits Of
our cities: so that by scientific principles
orderly companies extinguish the fire. instead
Of the old time riots which used to extinguish
the citizens. And we are in1,bte1 u you for
the successful demands you have made for
the repeal of unjust laws-for the battle you
have waged against in-endiarism and arson
for the fatal blow you have given to the
theory that corporations have no souls, by
the cheerfulness and promptitude with which
YOU have met losses from which YOU might
have escaped through technicaltY of the
law do not know any class OF men in ouToe
midst more high toned and worthy Of c.
dence than these men. and yet | hav' ne
times feared that while your chisIc eX-
is tc calculate about losses f,,-nisb az
Won might witon lui hi7A of
thought go mo that VIII. an officer :,
your soul. in your ow' tn
be called hazaris,7 '.extaw. Follow l.
is more infammable aIlant and dill 6,